Catholic Church hit by podophilia scandal

Reports of widespread abuse of feet by Catholic priests threatens to engulf the Catholic Church barely two weeks after the election of Pope Francis.

And the scandal is expected to reach the Pope himself when on Maundy Thursday he 'washes' the feet of young offenders in a Rome detention centre.

A group of priests has recently accused a prominent Catholic bishop in the UK of inappropriately touching their feet.

'Pope Benedict was known to be obsessed with the colour and shape of his shoes,' said a Catholic journalist,'but with the election of the new Pope we'd hoped the church had put the podophilia problem to rest.'

'It's worst than that,' said theologian Dr Hans Smit, 'the scriptures show that even Jesus Christ was at it.'